Money really does buy happiness, according to the results of a new study.

Researchers at the Harvard Business School surveyed thousands of people in the United States, Canada, Denmark, and the Netherlands and concluded that spending money to earn free time makes people happier.

"Around the world, increases in wealth have produced an unintended consequence: a rising sense of time scarcity," the paper about the study reads.

The study's "results suggest that using money to buy time can protect people from the detrimental effects of time pressure on life satisfaction."

The survey involved asking people a series of questions: do they spend money every month (and how much) to increase their free time by paying someone else to do certain tasks, what is their satisfaction with life, and some basic demographic inquiries.

The results show that 28.2 percent of people spend an average of $147.95 per month for people to do tasks for them, thereby freeing up their time. The people in this group were more satisfied with their life than people who did not spend money this way.

"These results provide initial evidence for a robust link between buying time and life satisfaction across diverse samples," the paper reads.

The researchers conducted a second experiment during which they gave volunteers $40 to spend on two consecutive weekends. One weekend they were asked to use the money to buy something material, and on the other weekend they were asked to spend the money on something that would save them time.

The results show that the people were happier after making the time-saving purchase.

Money really does buy happiness, according to the results of a new study.Researchers at the Harvard Business School surveyed thousands of people in the United States, Canada, Denmark, and the Netherlands and concluded that spending money to earn free time makes people...